Crossroads
by ItsOnlyDallis
Summary: "What is present even when everything else is gone? Love. Always love."   It's the last year at Hogwarts for the Marauders, Lily, Quinn and Absie. Each chapter is told from a different perspective. Rated M for mature themes.
1. Chapter 1: An Introduction Of Sorts

Crossroads

By: ItsOnlyDallis

Author's Introduction: So I do think that this is the third time I have published the first chapter of this story. For some reason, I can never get it to work exactly the way I think it should. I'm hoping that third time is the charm though. A lot more planning has gone into this draft of the story, and I really hope I finish it, because I really think that this story could be great if I actually write it this time. Either way, I hope you enjoy the first chapter, and please, please leave me reviews telling me what you think of it. It's very much appreciated. 3

**Chapter 1: An Introduction Of Sorts**

"Ready…Set…Go!"

Two trunks flew down the corridors of the Potter Family home. They crashed into walls, knocking down paintings of the Potter ancestors who complained loudly of their mistreatment as two boys fallowed quickly behind. James Potter and Sirius Black. They shoved and tripped each other with wild grins on their faces as they raced down the hallways with their wands outstretched and their hair billowing out behind them.

Quinn Potter, her shiny black hair almost identical to that of her twin brother's stepped out of her room to see what the noise was, only to be forced to dive back in as a trunk sped passed, taking a chunk out of the wall that she had only seconds ago been standing beside.

"Sorry, Q!" James cried a second later, as he and Sirius thundered passed her room also.

Quinn crawled back to the doorframe staring with a mixture of anger and awe as the boys skidded around the corner at the end of the hallway. She let out a breath that came as a quiet laugh, and fixed the hole in the wall with a quick flick of her wand.

"Wasss goin' on?" Peter Pettigrew, another one of James' friend's asked sleepily from the room next door. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes, grasping the doorframe as if he didn't have the energy to stand up on his own.

"No idea, Wormy." Quinn grinned teasing him with the name her brother had given him in their fifth year, which she always thought had been rather funny. She got up and ran after the two boys, fallowing the path of destruction that they had left in their wake to find them in the front room, James crumpled in a chair, and Sirius sprawled on the floor as if he had tried to make his way to a chair but collapsed on the way.

"For star Quidditch players you're both really out of shape." Remus Lupin, the fourth member of the boy's group grinned from the doorway to the kitchen, which he had emerged from to watch the two struggle. Quinn grinned a hello to him and turned her attention back to the two boys in front of her.

"So what were you doing anyways?"

"Trunk….races…." James gasped. "I… won…"

"Did not…." Sirius mumbled from his spot on the floor. Remus shook his head and Quinn laughed, the two of them turning to go back into the kitchen.

"Wow, mom!" Quinn exclaimed as she saw the spread of food her mother had cooked up. The long kitchen table had been decked out in plates of pancakes and sausages. "This looks amazing."

"Oh it's nothing really." Ms. Potter waved away, as she put the last of the food out on the table. "Just do me a favor and don't tell me what your brother and Sirius were doing just let me know if I should send Bree up."

At the mention of her name, a small house elf appeared with a crack in the middle of the kitchen. "You called, miss?"

"Yes, I have a feeling the boys have destroyed the upstairs hallway. If you wouldn't mind taking take of it, that would be lovely."

Bree smiled at Ms. Potter and with a quick bow to Remus and Quinn, she disappeared with another crack. Ms. Potter looked at the two of them and smiled, "I think breakfast is ready!"

At the mere mention of breakfast, Sirius and James were in the room, plates in hand and piling food onto them, their lack of breath forgotten. Even Peter managed to waddle his way into the kitchen rather quickly. Ms. Potter's cooking was some of the most fantastic food any of them had ever tasted. She never seemed to mind having to make 10 times what she normally would whenever Remus, Peter and Sirius stayed over, which generally ended up being most of the summer, and all the boys considered her somewhat of a second mother.

"Hurry up, you don't have a lot of time. Are you all packed? Good, just bring your trunks down to the living room." Ms. Potter swept up after the five children, cleaning up their plates with a few flicks of her wand. Sirius whined as she magiced away the last of his food, but she just sent him a look and ushered him and the other four into the living room.

The Potter's living room was large and cozy like the rest of their house. Big squishy armchairs sat around a wooden table, but the centerpiece of the room was by far the large stone fireplace that took up the majority of the far wall.

"Come along, come along, you don't have much time." Ms. Potter grabbed a wooden box full of floo power off of a nearby table and shoved a handful of it into her son's hand. "Have a good term, James. Please be good. "

"When am I not good, mum?" James asked, grinning at her.

"Oh, don't tempt me. You're not too old to be hexed."

James laughed and gave his mother a quick hug and kiss before stepping into the fireplace. "Platform 9 ¾!" He shouted and a great ball of green flames shot up and enveloped him, whisking him away.

Sirius stepped up next, he also gave Ms. Potter a big hug before taking his handful. He gave a silly salute to the rest of the party before he too was sucked up into the fireplace.

Remus and Peter nicely thanked Ms. Potter for letting them stay before making their way to the platform as well, until only Quinn and her mother remained in the large room.

"Have a good term, sweetheart." Her mother smiled sweetly at her, and gave her a tight hug.

"I love you, mum. " Quinn smiled back, "I'll keep an eye on James and Sirius for you."

"Please do. God knows what those boys could get up to."

"Bye mum. I love you." Quinn smiled and let go of her floo powder. She could just make out her mother repeating those words back before she was sucked through the top of the fireplace. She felt her body being twisted and distorted as the green flames wrapped themselves around her. She wasn't sure if she was right side up or upside down and she spun passed fireplace after fireplace in search for the one that would let her out at the train station. Then, just as she started to fell like she couldn't handle much more of it, she was spit out onto a crowed platform. Before she even opened her eyes, she knew where she was. The sounds of the train along with the hundreds of students and their parents. Friends looking for each other, the distressed hooting of owls who didn't enjoy being around so many people. Quinn opened her eyes. The large scarlet train stood majestically in front of her, steam poured out the top and every so often it would give a little whistle, reminding people to get on soon. Quinn began to walk around, looking for the rest of her friends, when suddenly she was attacked from behind.

"Quinn!" That voice could only belong to one person.

"Absie!" Quinn spun around and gave her friend a proper hug. "Where's Lily?"

"She's got us a spot on the train, come on." Quinn smiled at Absie, one of her best friends since their first year at Hogwarts. Both of them were in Gryffindor and they and Lily has bonded the very first night. Absie's long blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, as it was a lot, and her face was littered in faint freckles that gave her a very cute girl-next-door kind of look to her. Quinn and Absie pushed their way through the crowds of students and up into the train, where they found the compartment Lily had been keeping for them.

"Hey, Lily!" Quinn smiled as her red-haired best friend looked up from the book that laid open on her lap.

"Quinn!" Lily squealed and jumped up to hug her friend. "How was your summer?"

"Not bad except James had Sirius, Peter and Remus over for the last three weeks of it."

"Are you serious? Why are we never invited?"

"We only have so many rooms." Quinn laughed, "Sirius is guaranteed a spot every year and the two of them always gang up on me to get the other two over as well. " Quinn smiled. She didn't really mind having the boys over. They generally included her in most of what they got up to, and at least they were entertaining to be around. She laughed, remembering the morning events, "You'll never guess what happened this morning though. I woke up and I thought our house was falling down there was so much noise. I open my door and nearly get run over by a trunk James has bewitched to fly down the hallway, and him and that idiot Sirius-"

"You really want to finish that sentence?" Sirius grinned as he pushed open the door to the compartment, James Peter and Remus fallowing behind him.

"What are you doing here?" Lily asked, glancing quickly at James.

"Ouch." James grimaced, "All the other compartments are full or consist of people we don't like."

"So why is that our problem?"

"Oh shush, Lily." Absie hit her lightly on the arm. "We have lots of room. Come in guys."

Lots of room was a bit of an overstatement… ok it was a gross overstatement. The compartments were not made to hold seven people, much less so if three of them were over six feet tall, but they managed. It was a little cozy, but they managed.

The train ride ended up going quite well. As the captain of the Quidditch team James immediately turned to his fellow players, Sirius and Quinn to discuss the changes that would have to be made this year. "Well, Laura's gone, so we need a new Seeker, and I know Quinn and I both agree that if we have to spend another year passing the Quaffle to that gargoyle McDonald, we might strangle ourselves, so I want to try out new chasers as well. Sirius, you're good with Chris as your other beater?"

Sirius nodded, "Yeah he knows what he's doing. "

"Great. And everyone is still alright with Mitch as our keeper?"

"Absolutely." Quinn smiled.

James glanced down at his watch, which had just started tapping him on the wrist. "Oh yeah, Head Boy meeting. I should go."

Before he had even finished speaking, a thick silence filled the room. James stood up, and looked around at everyone in the compartment, who sat staring at him.

"What?"

"You're head boy?" Quinn gasped. Gaping up at her brother.

"Yeah… I told you guys, didn't I?"

Remus, Sirius, Peter and Quinn all shook their heads.

"Oh… well I meant to. It's not really that big of a deal. I just have to like… wander around the corridors at night sometimes and keep an eye of the prefects. "

"James, it's more then that! The Head Boy and Girl are the figureheads of the school! They are who everybody looks up to, and strives to someday be!" Lily gasped at him, "And," she continued as she stood up, "I should be going too. Seeing as I'm head girl."

"You're Head Girl?" James asked, a smile erupting on his face. "That's fantastic! Think of how much time we'll get to spend together!"

Lily groaned and turned to walk out of the compartment. James fallowed close behind, grinning stupidly. As the compartment door shut behind them, Quinn laughed. "He would forget that he's Head Boy, wouldn't he?"

"The school should be scared." Peter nodded.

"No way, Prongs is going to make everything a lot more fun. I'm never going to get in trouble for doing anything ever again!" Sirius grinned, looking around the compartment.

At that moment, the compartment door slid open once again, and a tall sandy-haired Hufflepuff walked in.

"Oh hey, Absie…Remus… how were your summers?"

"Great, Oliver." Absie smiled up at him, "What are you doing here?"

"Just doing rounds. We just had the prefect meeting, but we have to head back soon to meet with the Head Boy and Girl as well. I suppose you know Potter got the bagde this year."

"Yeah." Absie laughed. "He just told us. That git."

Oliver smiled at her, then looked around the compartment. "Well I should get going. Have a good rest-of-the-trip." With a final nod around, he slid the door back closed behind him.

"How do you know his so well?" Quinn asked. Of course she knew who he was, they were in the same year after all, but she couldn't remember a time she had ever had a conversation with him.

"Remus and I have study dates with him in the library. Which is probably why you don't know him." Absie grinned at the other three in the compartment.

"Ouch. I'm mortally wounded." Sirius pouted, and faked a long and dramatic death which somehow ended with him sprawled on top of every other person in the compartment.

The rest of the train ride went smoothly. Absie, Quinn and Peter joined up to face Remus in a game of wizard chess, and Remus still managed to slaughter them all. With about half an hour left, James and Lily made their way back into the compartment, both scowling and refusing to look at each other for the duration of the trip.

The entire sorting and feast past by in a blur. By the time the Gryffindors had made it all the way up to their dormitories all anyone wanted to do was sleep. Sirius fallowed Remus up the boys staircase, poking him in the back with his wand to make him go faster.

"What if that thing goes off and blasts a hole through me?" Remus mumbled.

"Just keep moving…" Sirius yawned, poking Remus again.

Finally the four boys made it to the same dormitories they had been using for the last seven years. They each made their way to their respective beds and sank down, not one of them having the energy to even take off their clothes.


	2. Chapter 2: First Day Back :Quinn:

Author Note: So thanks to the whole nobody who reviewed the first chapter ;) If you're reading this now, I'd just like to make it clear that each chapter will be told from a different characters perspective, and said character will be indicated in the chapter title, if you can't tell from reading the chapter itself. Just thought I would let you all know.

**Crossroads **

**Chapter 2: First Day Back *Quinn***

Quinn Potter woke up to the sound of fighting. She moaned. It was the first day, and already it had started.

"Give it back to me!"

"I didn't take it! I wouldn't touch anything of yours with a ten foot pole!"

"Don't you dare speak to her that way!"

"I'll speak to her however I want to!"

"Oh shut up!" Quinn looked to her left to see Lily sit straight up in bed, glaring at the commotion. Absie stood on one side of her bed, while Clarissa Davidson and Sydney White stood on the other. There had always been a very obvious difference in friendships within their dormitory. From the very first day when Sydney asked Absie if her robes were second hand, a wall had gone up between them. Lily and Quinn generally tried to get Absie to ignore them, but it always proved harder said then done. In all fairness, the two of them didn't like either of them as well. But at least they knew how to ask civil around people. Lily started to get out of bed, "What's going on?"

"She stole my hairbrush!" Clarissa pouted, pointing at Absie.

Lily stared at her, "Seriously? This is about a hairbrush? Listen, I'm Head Girl this year and that means that if you wake me up screaming at my best friend because you lost your hairbrush one more time, I'm going to give you detention. Got it?"

Sydney and Clarissa gaped at Lily. They narrowed their eyes, but didn't say anything as they turned around and marched out of the dormitory, linking their arms together.

"Thanks." Absie smiled at her. "Sorry for waking you."

"I should have been getting up anyways. And besides, it's not your fault she's crazy."

"Ha… yeah about that. I might have actually hidden her brush."

Quinn let out a snort of laughter as Lily whirled around to look at her, "Absie!"

"But you should have heard her go on about it! 'Oh yees I got eet when I waz is Paree over zee summer!' it was sickening."

Lily shook her head, "You're lucky I like you. Make sure she gets it back, ok? It's my first day as Head Girl and I'm already breaking the rules."

Quinn slipped Absie a thumbs up as Lily turned her back on them and Absie giggled.

The three girls made their way down to breakfast together. They scanned the Gryffindor table, looking for a place to sit. Quinn spotted Remus sitting by himself about half way down, and led the other two girls towards him.

"Morning, Remus. All alone?"

Remus looked up from the paper he was reading and grinned, "Not anymore." The girls sat down – Lily rather reluctantly – and began piling food onto their plates.

"Where's the rest of your troupe?" Absie asked, looking up at him. Remus laughed.

"Still getting dressed. It takes them a while to get used to waking up this early."

Quinn nodded, quite aware of the boys sleeping habits. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Professor McGonagall walking up the Gryffindor table handing out timetables to the waiting students.

"Oh god, if we have potions with the Slytherin again I think I'll die." Absie moaned as she spotted what Quinn was staring at. The four of them waited as McGonagall got to them.

"Ms. Potter… Ms. Evans… Ms. Taylor… Mr. Lupin… there you are… and where is Mr. Potter, our Head Boy?"

"Still getting ready, Professor. He should be down any minute." Remus smiled up at her.

"I should hope so." McGonagall nodded to them before continuing down the line of students.

"Look at this!" Absie gasped the second she was out of earshot, "First thing Monday morning: DOUBLE potions with the Slytherins! Slughorn does it on purpose because he thinks it's funny!"

"Oh, I'm sure he doesn't." Lily said, picking at her food.

"You're only saying that because he loves you!" Absie argued.

"Oh come on that's-" but Lily never finished her sentence. A small owl suddenly landed on her shoulder, holding a small folded note in its beak. Lily picked the note from it and opened it up.

Quinn watched Lily stare at the note, then glance up - eyes wide - at the other end of the hall, before dropping her eyes back to the note.

"What's that?" Quinn asked, looking at her.

"What? Oh. Ah… nothing. Just a note from my mum." Lily said in a rush, stuffing the note into her pocket and diving into her food with a renowned vigor.

Quinn opened her mouth to question her odd behavior but was interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the Marauder's.

"I hate waking up…" Sirius mumbled as he dropped into the seat beside Quinn.

"You'll hate it even more when you see our timetables." Quinn smiled sadly, pushing hers toward him.

"Double potions on a Monday morning with the Slytherins! What, does Slunghorn just like to see us in pain?" Sirius gasped looking down at the piece of paper in front of him.

"You're not serious…" James moaned, flipping the card around to read it himself.

"Yeah I am!" Sirius said, then paused, and then laughed at himself. The rest of the group rolled their eyes at him. Those jokes had gotten old halfway through the first year, and people continued to make them every chance they got. Sirius suddenly stood up from the group, his eyes locked with something at the other end of the table. "Now if you'll excuse me, I see Kate McIntyre down there and she's looking a little lonely…" Sirius stepped out of the table and started to make his way down to the ravishing blonde girl that he was staring at.

"Oh Sirius please! It's the first day… you'll miss class!" Lily shouted, exasperated after him.

"He's already gone, Lils." James said matter-of-factly, not even bothering to take his eye off his plate. "You should have heard him talking about her when he saw her get off the train yesterday. You know how he gets. He can't help the thrill of the chase."

"Oh yeah. Looks like it's really tricky stuff." Absie leaned over her plate in time to see Sirius take Kate by the hand and lead her out of the Great Hall, "Come on, that had to be some sort of record."

"Nope." The mousey voice of Peter spoke up, "The record is three point six seconds. Set last year with Marcia Ludwig. That one took a good ten seconds, there."

The girls all stared at him.

"… He asked us to time him." Peter confirmed, at their appalled faces.

Absie rolled her eyes and Quinn grimaced. "Come on. I've lost my appetite." The six seventh years stood up, and started making their way to the potions classroom. They made their way in, greeted by their overwhelmingly cheerful potions teacher.

"Good morning, class! Welcome back, welcome back… Oh Lucius, how's your father? Good, good…"

The class filed in, talking and chatting as they took a spot standing beside their own caldrons.

"I thought we could start off today seeing how much you've remembered over the summer, alright? I'm going to ask you to make me a draught of Alihotsy. By yourselves please, no partners. Be careful not to breathe in to many of the fumes, it can cause hysteria." Professor Slughorn tapped the board, causing instructions to begin writing themselves out in front of the students, "Now it is a bit long and complicated, but since we have a double class today, you should all have plenty of time to complete it. Now off you go."

Most of the students groaned as Slughorn finished speaking. Most of them hadn't open a textbook all summer, and were not looking forward to making a complicated potion first thing when they got back. Quinn shuffled her way to the ingredients cabinet, grabbing a handful of eel eye and a vile of flobberworm mucus before traipsing back to her caldron which sat right on the line that separated the Gryffindors from the Slytherins.

"Look at Snape," James whispered to her as they walked back together, "His nose is so close to the potion he's going to ruin it with grease." Quinn snickered, Snape –who of course had already started- was bent so low over his caldron his nose was almost brushing the liquid inside. Quinn and James parted ways. James moved back over to his cauldron beside Sirius, and Quinn began setting her ingredients up.

The class grew quieter and quieter as more people got involved in their potions. Slughorn hadn't been lying, this potion was proving very hard to make. Quinn sweated furiously over hers, which was starting to bubble; though according to the instructions, it wasn't supposed to do that until she added the acromantula venom. Quinn looked around the class; beside her Scott Walker -a dark haired Slytherin that she knew by name alone- had his potion giving off a faint blue mist in accordance to the instructions on the board. Quinn watched him as he mashed a bit of goosegrass before adding it into his cauldron.

"That helps release the juices a bit." He muttered, glancing over at her. Quinn started, she hadn't realized he knew she was watching him.

"Sorry… I'm just… disastrous at potions…" she muttered, turning back to her own brew. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scott lean over toward her caldron, peering in.

"Wow, you weren't lying."

Quinn shot him a look, but tried to keep her mind on salvaging her own potion. A few more minutes past in silence. The sound of bubbling and hissing potions filled the room as more and more students got closer to being finished. Quinn started to panic. Her potion was nowhere near where it should be. She could see Absie in front of her, lazily stirring the potion in accordance to the last few lines of instructions.

"Turn your heat down a bit."

"I- what?" Quinn looked over at Scott again, whose eyes flicked up to look at her,

"Your heat is way too high. That's why it's bubbling so much."

"Um... ok thanks." Quinn nodded, quickly adjusting the heat of the fire lit under her cauldron, unsure why this boy was helping her all of a sudden. Almost immediately, the bubbles in her cauldron died down, and a very faint mist of blue even began to appear on the very surface of it, "Oh! Ok wow. Thank you." She said in earnest this time, turning to look at him fully for the first time since they started speaking.

"Any time." Scott smiled up at her, and Quinn felt her heart beat a little bit quicker then normal. He had piercing grey eyes, which seemed to stare into her soul when he looked at her. He grinned, and poured a bit of his potion into a small vile, which he plugged with a stopper. "You might want to finish up. Were running a little low on time."

Quinn nodded quickly and returned to her work. She began stirring her brew, 25 times to the left and then 30 times to the right, she tired to concentrate on her potion but her mind kept wandering back to the boy that sat next to her. Even though he was a dirty, rotten Slytherin. She sighed; this was probably the only time she was ever really going to talk to him anyways. After all he-

Suddenly the bell rang, signaling all the students to jump out of their seats and begin making their way to the door. Quinn jumped. She had lost track of time and still had to bottle her potion for Slughorn.

"You guys go ahead," Quinn said as Lily and Absie approached her, "I just need to finish this up." The two of them nodded and made their way out the door, turning towards the Divination classroom on their way out. Quinn scooped up her relatively salvaged potion corked the vile and brought it up to Slughorn's desk. She turned around, expecting an empty classroom only to see Scott still slowly clearing his table even though he had finished well before the bell had rung. Quinn bit her lip and quickly made her way back to her own station. She quickly magiced away the mess she had left on her table, and with a second flick of her wand, vanished the rest of the potion that still sat in her caldron.

"Leaving so quickly?" Quinn looked up to see Scott leaning lazily against his caldron watching her. She felt her heart skip again at the way he looked at her, but managed to straighten up to look back at him.

"I have Divination… my best friend is Head Girl. She'll kill me if I'm late."

"That's too bad. Maybe we could hang out some other time. Say… this weekend?"

Quinn looked at him and chewed on the inside of her lip. On one hand, he seemed nice enough. He had saved her potion today without any real reason to do so. On the other hand, he was a Slytherin. Being a Slytherin just meant trouble, but there had to be an exception to every rule, right? Quinn thought about the way her brother and his friends would react if they knew she was hanging out with a Slytherin. They might just kill her. But it was her own life. And she should be able to do what she wants with it…

"Yes alright." She finally nodded.

Scotts face broke into a white smile that just about made her knees buckle. "Awesome. I'll meet you outside the Great Hall noon on Saturday." Quinn nodded. Scott grinned again, and gestured for her to leave the room ahead of him. She did. Slowly. Clutching her bag with both hands. They paused as soon as they made it outside of the classroom door.

"Well… see you later." Quinn said meekly. Scott nodded, smiled and turned to walk away from her. Quinn watched him go with mixed feelings. She started the long walk to Divination with nothing but him on her mind. She wasn't sure weather to smile or frown. She had a date with a Slytherin.


	3. Chapter 3: Behind The Ink :Lily:

Crossroads

Chapter 3: Behind The Ink :Lily:

Lily hadn't been able to pay attention all day. Whenever she tried to concentrate on anything, the small piece of paper began to feel as if it were burning hot, allowing her to focus on nothing else. She found herself with her hand in her pocket often, fondling the note and pulling it out to re-read whenever no one was looking.

Lily.

Meet me in the forest after the final bell. You know where.

The note wasn't signed but she knew whom it was from. All day a war had been raging in her head. Should she go meet him? They hadn't spoken in years and Lily wasn't sure what would happen if they were alone together. But she couldn't help but admit that she missed him.

The final bell rang signaling the end of the day. Lily blanched. Everyone was getting up around her, and Lily felt herself stumble to her feet.

"Ok, what is up with you?" Absie asked, pulling Lily out of her trance.

"What? Oh… nothing."

"You haven't said a word all afternoon. Neither has Quinn for that matter. What's going on?"

"Quinn?" Lily looked up in time to see Quinn drift out of the room without them. It certainly was odd of her, but Lily couldn't really focus on it. "I honestly don't know what's up with her. Why don't you go ask?"

Absie rolled her eyes. "I've been trying to but you both just look like you're in your own little worlds."

"I'm sorry, Ab." Lily looked up at her. "Let's go find her and figure it out, ok?" She asked, smiling at her friend. Deciding once and for all to ignore the note that had been bothering her all day. Absie looked a little surprised at Lily's sudden mood swing decided not to comment on it. The two of them left the classroom together, walking down the hallways towards the Gryffindor common room. Absie started complaining about the amount of homework the teachers were already assigning as Lily found herself once again being drawn back to the note in her pocket.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Absie!" She finally shouted as the two of them passed the big entrance doors. "I need to do something. I'll see you tonight!"

"I… Lily, what?" Absie tried to call after her, but Lily was already running out the big oak doors. She rushed down the steps, taking two at a time, nervously glancing around for anyone she knew. She had to meet him. Why? She wasn't sure.

The edge of the forbidden forest loomed just ahead of her. She clenched the note in a fist in her pocket, and slowed down to a steady walk as she drew closer to the spot. The crisp September wind blew her red hair around her face and into her eyes. Her heart races as she walked slowly closer to the forest, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. When she was far enough away that no one would see her, she ducked quickly into the forest and walked only as far as she needed to. It was much colder in here. The large trees blocked out most of the sunlight and Lily shivered, the chill hitting her.

"Here." Lily jumped as a warm cloak was wrapped around her shoulders. She turned around,

"Hello, Severus." Lily looked him up and down. It had been so long since they last talked. She remembered him, pleading outside the Gryffindor tower, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt shock through her system.

"I've missed you." Severus said quietly, cutting straight to the point.

Lily sighed, "I know."

Severus looked up at her, "Haven't you missed me?" his voice was nothing more then a whisper.

Lily looked around the forest. The tree's were just beginning to turn colours and the wind was shaking the leaves so that they had to fight to hold onto their branches. Lily bit her lip as she looked back at Severus, his eyes wide and afraid of what she might say. His hair, jet black and as long as she had ever seen it, whipped around his face. "Of course I have, Sev…"

Severus let out a long breath that he seemed to have been holding since he asked the question. Lily saw his whole body relax and she felt another pang of remorse.

"But Severus, they're my friends now."

Severus' smile drooped. "You don't need them, Lily. You're so much better then them all." He stepped forwards and made to grab her hands. Lily pulled back from him, clasping them together at her chest instead. She saw the sadness in his eyes, but turned away from it.

"They're my friends." She repeated, her eyes now on a pretty blue lower the was growing by itself a few feet away, though she wasn't really paying attention to it.

There was a long silence, both of them starring away from each other, staring at nothing. The wind was the only noise and it cut through them like a knife. Severus' cloak whipped around Lily, and she held it tight to herself. It smelt like him… she moved it farther away from her nose.

"Lily…" She looked up at Severus, who was standing much closer to her then she remembered. "Lily…" he whispered. He reached up, grabbing her hands in his and looked into her eyes. Lily stood frozed, his dark eyes staring straight into her. He moved one of his hands, moving it up so that it grazed her face.

Lily twisted her head, breaking her hands out of his. "I should go." She said quietly, pulling the cloak off her shoulders and shoving it roughly into his hands, never looking at him. She turned and began walking.

"Lil! Lily wait!" Severus cried out, he jogged after her, catching her hand in his again. She spun around, pleading with her eyes to just let it go.

"No." Severus said. "Please Lily. Just… we can just talk. Talk all night. Like we used to."

Lily looked away from him, "That was a long time ago. Things change Sev."

"They don't have to." Severus looked at her as she deliberately looked away from him. "No one even has to know. I'll send you an owl, you can come or… or not." He choked on the last words. "Just a maybe, that's all I need."

Lily finally looked up at him. He was breathing deeply, his chest rising and falling, his eyes pleading with hers…

"Maybe."

Severus grinned, laughing quietly in relief. "I'll leave you alone then, for now. I'll send an owl later, later this week…" his eyes had begin to sparkle with excitement.

"Just to talk." Lily reminded him, but he barely seemed to notice.

"I'll see you later, Lily." He said, grinning wildly at her, and Lily couldn't help but let a small smile escape onto her face.

"Ok." She whispered as he turned and practically skipped his way out of the forest. She watched him as he left, wondering what on earth had gotten into her. Not only had she met him – something she promised herself she would never do again – but she had made plans to see him again. She sighed. To be fair, he had been her best friend growing up. They used to be inseparable. A wall had gone up between them in the last couple years, but that didn't mean that things couldn't go back to the way they used to be. Lily smiled at the thought of the fun they used to have together, and as she gathered her thoughts and started heading back towards the castle, she couldn't help but hope that the two of them could make things right again.


	4. Chapter 4: And So It Begins :Absie:

Crossroads

Chapter 4: And So It Begins :Absie:

Absie sat doodling absentmindedly in the back of the History of Magic classroom. At the front of the room Professor Binns - a man so old Sirius and James swore he would wake up dead and not even realize it happened- stood droning on about the goblin wars. The students had only been back in class for a week, and Absie already found herself looking forward to the weekend - especially when she had to sit through classes like this. She found herself thanking Merlin it was Friday, and looking forward to being able to sleep in the next day. It didn't help that her best friends had been acting weird all week. Lily had gotten better after her odd outburst on Monday, but Quinn seemed to get more and more nervous and twitchy each day. It was at the point now that whenever Lily or Absie would break her from her zombie-like state, she would scream and drop whatever she was holding at the time. Already she had broken three cups during dinner, and Lily and Absie were beginning to get worried.

Absie glanced over at Quinn now. She was just a couple seats over from herself, but she sat with her head resting in her hand staring at the wall, probably without taking in a word of the classes lecture. Absie stared at her, trying to figure out what the problem was, when a small piece of folded parchment landed neatly in the middle of her desk. Absie looked around, trying to see who the note had come from to see Remus and Oliver grinning at her from a few rows ahead of her. She grinned back and folded open the paper to read:

Abs,

Remus and I have decided that it's about time we start

Getting together for study dates again. I propose we meet in the

Library at six tonight and maybe then we can figure out

What this lesson was actually on.

-Oliver

Absie looked up at the boys and nodded. Not that she was really in the mood to be studying already, but she loved to hang out with the boys. They were always a lot of fun to be with, especially when they were together. If the two of them weren't in separate houses, Absie swore they would be as close as James and Sirius.

The bell rang, pulling everyone out of his or her stupor. Even Professor Binns looked up confused, and checked his watch before calling out to the already-leaving class, "Remember to read chapter 7 of your textbooks this weekend in preparation for class on Monday!"

"Not bloody likely…" James grumbled, catching up with the group of Gryffindors leaving the classroom.

"James you're head boy! You should be setting a better example! Besides, how are you going to understand what's going on in class if you don't read about it first?" Lily scolded him as they all walked together to the great hall for dinner.

"You know as well as I do that he's going to review the chapter first thing on Monday anyways." James retorted, "and Dumbledore made me head boy without me ever reading anything for History of Magic. He knew what he was getting himself into."

"Maybe he made you Head Boy because he thought that it might give you some sort of sense of responsibility! Obviously he was wrong." Lily huffed at him and sat down between Quinn and Absie so that she wouldn't have to talk to him anymore.

James frowned, but sat on the other side of Quinn without saying anything back. Oliver said goodbye to Remus and made his way over to his own place as the Hufflepuff table. Sirius sat on the other side of the table with Remus. All six of them started into their food before any of them realized that something was missing.

"Where's Wormtail?" Sirius asked suddenly, looking up from the table, and glancing back and forth. Everyone dropped their forks and looked up as well.

"I have no idea…" James said slowly, trying to think back to when Peter might have slipped away, and coming up with nothing, "Did he leave History of Magic with us?"

"Was he even in History of Magic?" Remus asked suddenly, looking quizzingly at everyone.

"I don't know… Quinn did you see him?" Lily asked, looking at her.

"I- what?" Quinn asked, starting suddenly and dropping her cup which fell on the floor and broke.

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Absie cried exasperated, as Lily bent down to repair the cup, "Quinn what is wrong with you lately?"

Quinn paled, "I don't know what you're talking about." She stammered.

"Don't lie to us, Quinn, we can see right trough you." Absie warned. She turned around fully on the bench to stare at her friend. "Tell us what's going on."

Quinn's eyes flicked to the Slytherin table for only half a second, but Absie still caught in and glanced over in earnest to where she was staring. It just so happened that at that moment Scott was watching them as well. He raised his hand in a wave as Absie looked over at them and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Quinn, why is he waving at us?"

"Wait, who's waving?" James asked turning around to look at the Slytherin table as well.

"James, stop…!" Quinn moaned but it was too late as Scott saluted James as well.

"Quinn, why is Scott Walker waving at us?"

"Scott Walker… why do I know that name?" Lily mused looking at them.

"Probably because he's the biggest player in the school, right Quinn?" James asked, glaring down at Quinn. Quinn opened and closed her mouth, but no words came out.

"You wouldn't be thinking of hanging out with him at all would you Quinn?" James persisted, straightening up in his seat to loom over her. Again, Quinn opened her mouth to retaliate but couldn't come up with anything to say.

"Quinn?" Lily looked at her friend in honest worry and prayed her to explain with her eyes.

Quinn sighed and looked around at them all who sat staring at her. "He asked me out in potions the other day… he wouldn't take no for an answer." She explained, although it wasn't entirely true.

Absie gaped at her and James threw his hands in the air, "Quinn, you're better then him! You're better then any Slytherin!"

"You don't know what you're talking about, James. You don't even know him!" Quinn responded, finally able to stand up for herself.

"You don't know him either, Quinn! He's bad news, I'm sure of it."

"You can't control my life, James!" Quinn shouted at him, raising the attention of the people sitting around her. Lily grabbed her sleeve to keep her from standing up, but Quinn ripped her arm out of it and stumbled away from the table. Absie and Lily jumped up to join her as she ran out of the Great Hall, leaving the three boys sitting alone with their dinner and shocked expressions on their faces.

Absie and Lily caught up to Quinn just outside the large doors that lead to the great hall.

"Quinn, what's going on?" Lily asked, grabbing her sleeve again. Quinn whipped around and looked at them.

"It's just… it's my life, and he always tries to control it! He doesn't know anything! I just…. He just…" words failed her, and she looked at her two best friends with pleading eyes.

"Quinn, he's got a point. You've heard the same things I have about him. Why would you want to date him?" Lily looked at her defiantly, and Quinn cowered before her.

"Lily, you wouldn't understand…" she mumbled, looking at the floor.

"Oh, come on!" Absie said, exasperated, "we're your best friends. We'll understand."

Quinn looked up at the two of them, "No you wouldn't. You guys always have boys chasing after you…. I've never had a guy my age pay attention to me like that. He… he looks at me! He talks to me!"

"Quinn, I do not have boys chasing after me." Absie said, taking her friends arm, "and there are plenty of nice boys out there who will pay attention to you."

"Oh yeah? Like who?" Quinn looked challengingly at her.

"Well… I mean… there has to be someone… it's a large school…" Absie stammered, digging herself a hole.

Quinn groaned and turned to go but Lily stopped her, "Quinn, I understand how you feel." Quinn looked at her skeptically, "No! I do! I understand, but I promise you a good guy will come along soon. You don't need a slimeball like Scott to make you feel good about yourself."

Quinn looked at her for a minute, "but Lily… I really think I do." She bit her lip, "Lily, I don't want to be that person, but he really made me feel special! He waited after class specifically for me! Just to talk to me! No guy has ever made me feel that way before. Please guys," she said, looking at her two friends, "just let me have this."

Absie and Lily looked at each other with concern. Both were thinking the same thing: Scott was bad news. Everyone knew that. But Quinn seemed to actually like him, and they didn't want to tell her that she couldn't do what she wanted.

"Don't judge me for this." Quinn whispered to them, "but I'm 17, and no guy has even ever looked at me before. Is it so wrong for me to want that?"

Lily shook her head, "No there's nothing wrong with that. I just… Well… I guess it's your life. We just don't want to see you hurt."

"We only care about you." Absie added in.

"I can take care of myself." Quinn gave them a small smile. "Thank you for understanding."

Absie gave Quinn a big hug, "Quinn, we love you. Let us know if he's being a toerag to you. We'll send the boys to beat him up."

Quinn laughed a little, "Don't tell James, he might actually kill him."

"Might serve him right." Lily smiled, and joined in the hug as well. The girls pulled apart and looked at each other with smiles.

Just at that moment, Remus poked his head around the doors leading to the Great Hall, "Is it safe for me to come out, yet?"

Quinn laughed, "Yes, come on out, Remus."

Remus grinned at them and stepped all the way out into the hall, "I hate to break this up, but Absie, we're supposed to be meeting Oliver in about two minutes so…"

Absie looked down at her watch and smacked herself in the head, "I totally forgot!" She glanced up, as if calculating something, and then looked wide-eyed at Quinn, "You're sure you're alright, then?"

Quinn smiled at her, "As good as ever."

"Perfect. Ok then Remus, we can still get there on time." Without warning Absie grabbed Remus' hand and started bolting down the hallways, away from her friends and towards the library. Remus stumbled the first few steps but quickly he began to overtake her with his long legs, forcing Absie to push herself harder just to keep up. It eventually turned into a race, both of the two still managed to laugh at each other in between gasps of breath and they skidded around corners and tripped down the slick floors of the castle. Thankfully, the library wasn't too far from the doors to the Great Hall as the two of them might have passed out from exhaustion if then ran any farther then they had just to make it there. They stopped just outside of the library, panting, neither of them able to catch their breath and argue over whom had made it first.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here." Suddenly Oliver loomed over them. Remus and Absie looked up into his twinkling blue eyes,an evil smile on his face, "two minutes late I see. I think that means 2 points a piece for me."

Absie and Remus groaned with what little breath they had left. It had become a game between the three of them to be on time to their study sessions. Every minute that a person was late was a point to any person that was there on time. This meant that Oliver started the year four points ahead of both Absie and Remus, which was hard to catch up on.

After waiting another minute so that Absie and Remus could actually walk again, the three of them went and found seats at a table near the back of the library. They pulled out their History of Magic textbooks and then looked around at each other.

"So…" Absie said, looking down at her page and then up at the two boys in front of her, "I haven't got an idea what we were supposed to have learned today."

"Me neither. Remus?" Oliver and Absie looked at him expectantly, and as always, he didn't disappoint.

"You know, it's really not that hard to just pay attention in class…" Remus muttered, grinning at them. This was the way these study sessions usually went. Though Oliver and Absie both were above average students Remus was very, very above average, and always paid attention in class. Most of the study sessions ended up with Remus just re-teaching lessons to them. Remus didn't mind, and Oliver and Absie ended up with much better grades because of it.

The three friends sat together laughing and studying for hours before Madame Bagg informed them that the library was closing, and ushered them out. The three of them walked Oliver to the Hufflepuff common room down by the kitchens. They each gave him a hug goodbye in parting, and then turned to make their way back to the Gryffindor common room. They talked a bit as they headed up the large staircases that lead to their beds, when a sudden scuttling noise behind them made them stop dead in their tracks.

"Who's there?" Remus called, spinning around and staring into the dark space behind them.

"Lumos." Absie whispered, pointing her wand towards the sound. Light erupted out of the end of her wand, illuminating the dark corridor behind them. Peter stood frozen in fear as the light hit him, and Absie and Remus came into full view.

"Wormtail?" Remus looked at him puzzled, "What are you doing out so late?"

"I.. ah… I had something to do…" Peter muttered, looking back and forth between the two of them.

Absie gave him a strange look, "Well why didn't you let us know you were there?"

"I didn't realize it was you." Peter said, "It's too dark, I thought maybe you were teachers."

Remus laughed, "It's only 11, Wormtail. We still have an hour before we have to be in the common rooms."

Peter gave an awkward laugh, looking embarrassed. Absie continued to stare at Peter in an odd way, but shook her head and started back up towards the common rooms anyway. Remus fallowed suit, and Peter jogged to catch up so that he could walk with them as well. Soon, the oddities of the situation vanished and by the time the three of them stepped into the large, red and gold room, they were laughing and chatting as old friends again. Fatigue suddenly hitting her, Absie bed goodnight to Remus and Peter there, making her way up to the girl's dormitories. Lily and Quinn were there already, sitting together talking quietly on their beds for Clarissa and Sydney had gone to bed hours before, and the girls knew the wrath of them if they didn't get their beauty sleep.

Absie slid into bed after changing out of her robes, and pulled the curtains around her. It didn't take her long at all to fall asleep, dreaming of sleeping in the next day.


End file.
